Under blue skies and varying winds the 2018 BC Water Ski Provincials went off with out a hitch at Chimney Lake last weekend.
Hosted at the Chimney Lake property of Parnell and Leigh Pinette, the event attracted 44 competitors from all over B.C. and hundreds of spectators.
“We had awesome conditions, great crowds and the skiers were raving about the atmosphere,” said Parnell, who is also vice-president of Water Ski and Wakeboard BC. “The skiers were blown away by the support from the town. They’ve skied lots of tournaments and said it was one of the best they’d been to.”
Read more: VIDEO 2018 Water Ski Provincial underway
The Pinettes’ son Lucas, 12, won first overall in the U14 boys, gaining 107 feet in the jump competition.
His brother Linden, 10, came first overall in U10 boys and brother Cameron, 15, competed in his first adaptive water ski tournament.
“Cameron did awesome and got the crowd pumped up,” Parnell said.
Liv Rankin from Williams Lake won second in jump and third in slalom and trick.
Conley Pinette, 18, achieved a new personal best Saturday morning in the slalom event which garnered him second place.
“It wasn’t the best weather either,” Conley said after his slalom run, referring to the wind that had picked up. “It’s a six-buoy course and every time you get through it they shorten the rope.”
The rope is 75 feet long and Conley got to 38 feet off it.
“The shorter it goes, the harder the angle is to get out to the balls, and timing and everything.”
Conley came first in jump, achieving 184 feet. In the tricks category he came second.
Parnell said he came first in jump, going 134 feet, second in trick and second in slalom.
Cory Bate, president of Water Ski and Wakeboard BC said competitor Joel Poland, who won first in the trick competition, was originally from England.
“Joel is the junior world overall champion,” Bate said.
In Saturday’s slalom, Joel achieved two buoys with a 39.5-foot or 10.75 metre line, Bate said, adding both Conley and Joel were going 58 kilometres an hour during the slalom event.
Bate said Chimney Lake is one of the top sites for water ski competitions in B.C.
“Especially when it gets flat out there, there’s not much that compares to it.”
Last year the Pinettes were scheduled to host the provincials, but they were cancelled due to the wildfires.
Parnell said they hosted them in 2012 and in 2002.
“Thanks to the community once again for its amazing support,” he added.
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